Machine for testing water-meters.



E. H. FORD! MACHiNE FOR TESTING WATER METERS.

APPLICATION man Aue.12. 19m` Lw Patented. mm1, 1916.

W/ 771/55 SES.' //V :Vf/V 7'0/1? Y ,615. tm, MWWMWWZ,

. ATE@ EDWIN FORD, UF lABAS'-,

.rsa H, 1,.. tint-tl l TKACHNE FOR TESTEN@ lNATER-METERS.

mrs-wm:

.Application tiled Atugust l2, with To all whom it may concern: .y

Be it known that l, EDWIN FORD, a citizen of the United States, residingat lllabash, in the county of `Wabash and State of Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful lmprovements in Machines for Test ing1Water-lt/leters, of which the :following is a specification.

ln water service companies which provide water for municipalities by themeter system, it is desirable to have a machine for periodically testingthe meters for deter- -niin'ing their accuracy in the measurement otWater.

The object ot this invention is to provide a machine which will bethoroughly practical and comparatively inexpensive by means of whichWater meters can be easily, rapidly and accurately tested.

A. further object of the` invention consists in the provision of amachine of' the above character in Which a large number of meters may besimultaneously tested, the machine contemplating a construction wherebyeach meter is conned independently Within the machine with regard to theother meters, so that each meter canl be removed andy another replacedWithout disturbing the other meters which are being tested..

l further object of the invention consists in the provision oi" amachine ot the above character in which water nieters may be testedunder various conditions by throttling down or enlarging the doni sothat a smaller or larger rolume et Water can be passed through meter in'a given` time under the same head.

accomplish the above objects of the in'- vention by means ot theconstruction illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, torni ing a parthereof, injvhichl' Figure is 'a detail view r 4' is partly side elet.tion and partly in section ot my iniproren inet-er testi mechine. Fig.2 is an enlarged detail s nal View of the means tor clamping each meterto be tested in position, on the line if in lig. 3. Fig. 3 is a crosssection on thtu line -3 in Fig. 2. `Fig. t is a View on the lin:n inFig. il, this View lacing on a ccnssrleluibljr enlarged Speccation ofrLetters ratent.

Datented dan. serial no. stesso.

made of suiticient length to accommodate a lnumber of meters to betest-ed at a time, and

` wheels 22 ar Vwith recess ,z

this tank nrovides a support for a plurality ot tl-shaped members l2which are arranged. in the same plane and are securely bolted to thebottom of thetanlr l0 by means et the bolts 13A. rlthe upturned ends oitthe shaped members l). provide means lier attaching the hearings l5which are secured to the members ,l2 by means oii the bolts lo. Thebearings lo, as shown in E2. are hollow and liners il", usually composedof brass, are inserted into the bearings l5 and are rigidly held inplace by means of pins i8. The liners 17 are provided with integrally:formed lips 20 which receive and support one ot 'the ends ot themeters. li.-- serted into the ends or the liners l?, oppoM site the endscontaining the lips 20, are interiorly threaded cylinders 2l to whichrevoluble hand-Wheels 22 are secured. suitable manner and by which meanssi cylinders 2l are rotated. Enteriorlv threao ed inner sleeves 25 screwinto the interioriTT threaded cylinders'ffll, and "l ysleeres areprovided with integrally iior" ed lios which receive and support one oLthenends oi2 meters. means or this construe tion it will be seen thatwhen hande ..evoiyed, and ilnnedue longitudinal cvel etl the c d' @l i*ha adjacent edm Uhe bem stop-plates 28, the inn-e jforced to travel lorclamp lthe meters tig they are to he t f" or to release them. will alsohe note the ends of the liners and the inner sleeves 25 cont lips 20 and2d, respectively,

3i vr- I v A l position When 4suitable gaskets so that water tightjoints may be eifected with the ends ot' the meters. Suitable packing 33is also inserted at the inner ends ot' the cylinders 21 so that watertight joints at these points are effected. For mechanical reasons theouter ends of the cylinders 21 are provided with tlanges to which thehand-wheels 22 are secured and in assembling these parts the hand-wheels22 are first inserted into the notches 35 after which they cylinders Q1are placed in position. A fter the above operation is completed theinner sleeves are inserted. The stopplates 28 are now placed in positionupon the b ackets 40 for limiting thel longitudinal travel of the saidsleeves in one direction, while the adjacent edges of the bearings 15limit the longitudinal travel of said sleeves in the opposite direction.

It will be noted that with the use lof my invention a water testingmachine may be made suticiently long to accommodate any desired numberof meters at one time, in which each meter is individually7 clamped inposition. As illustrated in Fig. 1, a single meter A may be tested on amachine which will accon'lmodate a pluralityv of meters, and this isaccomplished b v provid- Ving a number of pipes 15, which are insertedinto the places ordinarily used for testing meters, to establish andmaintain free passage ot' the water through the machine. As aboutninety-live per cent. ot the meters in use are of the live-eighths inch-variety, I provide the supporting sleeves 23, shown in Fig. (3, whichare inserted into the sleeves Q5 and liners 1T to accommodate meters ofthis character. Then l desire to test threefourths inch meters thesupporting sleeves 23 are removed, allowing the lips Q0 and 26, on theliners 17 and sleeves 25, respectively, to support meters of thischaracter.

To extend the sphere of usefulness ot' my improved vater meter testingmachine to meet the varying conditions that obtain in large cities,where a limited number of meters ofv a full one-inch flow are tested, lprovide the machine with one section capable ot testing a tall one-inchflow. rl`he inlet pipe is of cnc-inch diameter to supply sutlicientwater to accommodate meters taking a full one-inch flow, and the pipe 50is provided with an ordinary cut-olil valve 51 by which the water may beentirely cut out of the testing machine. Then testing meters ot lessthan one-inchliow, the water, after entering the pipe 50, passes throughthe several meters that are being tested, or. in case ot testing asingle meter, through the pipes 45, and passes'out through the verticalpipe 53 and outlet pipe 5t which discharges into a weighing tank (notshown) where the water is weighed. lnitially, the water is allowed toflow until all ot the air has been exhausted from the meters, afterwhich the valve 53 is closed to temporarily stop the flow of water. Theregistering dial on each meter is now examined to note the position ofthe. indicator hands before the test is started. and in case said handsstand in positions to render subsequent coniputations easy the positionsot' the hands are tabulated. The valve 53" is now opened, allowing thewater to pass out through the outlet pipe 5l for a determined p'eriodot' time at the end of which the valve 53 is closed and the readings ot'the meters are again tabulated so that the amount ot' water that haspassed through the meters is readily calculated. 1n order to verify andtest with certainty the measuring accuracy of the indicator hands on themeters. the water in the receiving tank (not shown) is subsequentlyweighed and it' there be discrepancy between the weight of the volume ofwater in the tank and the measurement of the indicator hands the same isreadily detected and may be corrected.

There are a number of Jfeatures which stand out prominently inconnection with my improved meter testing machine in which. first. it'in starting to test one or more meters I find that the indicator hand orhands on the dials ofthe meters are standing so as to necessitatefractional computation. l can move each indicator hand independentty ofthe others to a point on the scale of the registering mechanism beforestarting the test, thereby rendering computation easy at the conclusionot the test. This I accoml'ilish by allowing a small stream ot' water toescape in the rear of the meter-in the direction of the flow-to betested. This limited flow of water which is allowed to escape operatesthe indicator mechanism and slowly moves the, indicator hand along thescale to the desired postion after which the flow of water discontinued.The indi Iator hand on each successive meter in the series to be testedis now set until all theindicator hands on the several meters are set atthe .desired point ot' starting. The above tapping of the water 'supplyis accomplished by means of small pet-cocks. and` as an illustration,attention is directed to meter in Fig. 1 which is placed in` position tobe tested. The valve 53 in the outlet pipe 5l is closed during the metertesting period. l now note the position of the indicator hand of theregistering mechanism of meter A. and if'said hand stands on anyfractional part of the scale open the pet-cock B and allow a smallhstream of water to escape. rlhis escaping water operates the meterslowly but suiiiciently to move the indicator hand and when said handreaches thel desired position over the scale the flow ot water is thendiscontinued. 1n case there are several meters in the machine, 1 movetothe next succeeding meter, in the direction oit the incoming water,and inspect the indicator' hand. lf l ind that the indicator hand is notset so as to make computation easy l open the pet-cock t) which allows asmall stream of water to escape and which moves the indicator hand tothe desired point, and so on until all oit the meters in the machinehave been set to suit the operator. conclusion of the operation ofinitially setting the indicator hands on the different meters, the valve53a is opened, allowing the water to iiow uninterruptedly through themeters. Second, in case it is desired to subject a meter to a test ofhandling various sized streams of water, l provide a verticai movableplate 56 having a number of various sized orices 57 therein. This plate5G is known as a calibrated plate, and is arranged to be movedtransversely across the stream ot water. This plate is best shown inllig. 4 of the drawings, and to readily bring the various orifices 57into line with the stream, the said plate is made adjustable so thataccurate registration of the orifices in the plate with the stream isinsured at all times. For convenience, l have mounted the plate 56between the last bearing' 15 of the testing machine and the elbow 58. Asshown in Fig. 4, the plate 56 slides in a determined path between thelugs 5W on the bearing 15, one edge of the plate 56 being provided witha series of notches 59 which are engaged by a suitable pawl 60 mountedon the bearing1 15. By disengaging the pawl 60 trom the notches 59 thecalibrated plate 56 is free to be moved transversely ot the'low oivater, and when said pawl engages the notches 59 the plate 56 stands soas to insure one of the orices 57 being in accurate registration withthe fiow of water. rl`he orifices 57 are ci' different diameters,running usually from one inch downward to one thirty-second ot one inch,so that the plate meets the varying conditions employed for testingmeters, and as the plate 56 throttles down or enlarges the iiow of waterthe meter test will include the passing of different volumes of waterthrough the meters in a given time under the same head. After thecalibrated plate 56 has been moved to bring the proper orifice 57 inline with the stream of water it is clamped in position by means of ahandscrew 6G which passes through a yoke 65 and bears against the elbow58, and to prevent leakage between the calibrated plate 5G and theadjacent sides oit the bearing 15 and the elbow 58, I insert suitablegaskets 63. See Fig. 5.

The machine is further provided with a pair ot gages 67, one of thegages being located at a point vwhere the water enters from the pipe 50,and the other near the opposite end of the machine, these gages beingused the l "meter, to establish the tlc-w water he merely for indicatingthe reduction of water pressure through Yi'riction by noting theeiristing pressure at the two points where the gages are located.

As' hereinbeitore stated, the machine is able to make a test of a singlemeter of iive-eighths of an inch iiow, in which case a live-eighths inchleading pipeit is used, and in case three-quarters incn meters aretested the {ive-eighths inch pipes #i5 are replaced by three-quarterinch leading pipes. -he ma,- chine is also capable of making a full lowtest, that itlto say, meter can be tested having a capacity foraccommodating the full flow of water into the machine which, in thisinstance, would be a one-inch 'lion'. This is accomplished byconstructing the first section of the machine of suliicient size toaccommodate a meter that will take a one-inch stream of water. l.Whensuch a test is to be made the valve 58a is closed and the valve 55 isopened, allowing a tree and unobstructed one-inch. tlow of water to passfrom the pipe() through the meter into the pipes 69 and 7G which iorin abypass for the water in reaching the outlet pipe 5-1. lin making thistest the indicator' hand ot the meter may be moved around to a properstarting point by opening the pet-ceci; in the samemanner as hasheretofore been described. being tested the by-pass' is closed by' meansof the valve 55, and a leading pipe 7 2 accoiumodating full size flow orwater is in serted in the position occupied by 'the la ge the inlet pipe50 and the smaller meters on the pipe d5, as the case may be.

I have in the beginning ot this speciiication ycalled attention to the:tact that the machine is provided with a. tank The purpose of this tankis to catch such water as may escape through the pet-cocks or when themeters are being placed into position or removed, the tank preventimgvfrom splashing .and rendering imi ate vicinity around the testingmachine damp and unhealthy.

Having thus fully described my said .invention, what "il desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. ln combination, in a machine for test ing a group of meters arrangedin successive communication, means 'or independ-- ently securing eachmeter in operative posiw tion, and means Jor replacing one or moremeters without disturbing the remaining meters in the group.

2. ln combination, in a machine for simultaneously testing a group otmeters arranged in successive communication, means for removablysupporting each meter inde pendently in operative position, means Jforindependently securing each meter in oplilhen the smaller meters areerative position, and means for replacing one or more meters withoutdisturbing the remaining meters in the group.

3. In combination, in a machine for testing a group of meters arrangedsem'atz'm, each of said meters being provided with an indicator, meansfor removably supporting each meter independently of the other meters inthe group, means for securing each meter independently of the others 1nthe group, and means for initially setting each meter indicatorbeginning at the discharge end of the machine independently of the othermeter indicators in the group.

4. In combination, in a machine for testing a group of meters arrangedscrz'atz'm, each of said meters being provided with an indicator, meansfor removably supporting each meter independently ofthe other meters inthe group, means for securing each meter independently of the othermeters in the group, means for initially setting each meter indicatorbeginning at the discharge end of the machine independently of the othermeter indicators, and means for replacing one Dr more meters Withoutdisturbing the remaining meters in the group.

5. In combination, in a machine for testing a group of meters arrangedscrzazz'm, means for removably supporting independently each meter inoperative position, means for securing each meter independently of.

the other meters, a single means for conducting the water to saidmeters, a single means for controlling the flow of water in theconducting means leading to the meters, a discharge means for the water,and a single means for controlling the flow of Water through saiddischarge means.

6. In combination, with a machine for testing a group of alined metersarranged serz'atz'm, means 'for removably mounting each meter inoperative position, means for securing each 4meter independently of theothers, and a perforated means'having transverse adjustment through thestream of water for testing the meters to different volumes of Waterunder lthe same head.

7. In combination, with a machine for testing a group of alined meters,means for removably mounting each meter of the group in operativeposition, means for securing each meter independently of the others,means having transverse adjustment through the stream of water andprovided with different sized openings for increasing and decreasing thevolume of water passing through the meters under a given head, and meansfor externally indicating the registration of each perforation in saidperforated means with the stream of water.

8. In combination, with a machine for testing a group of alined meters,means for removably mounting each meter of the dicating the registrationof each perforation in said perforated means with the stream of water,and means for securing the perforated means at the diderent positions ofits adjustment. j

9. In combination, with a machine for testing a group of alined meters,a Wastewater catch trough forming a means for.

mounting the meter supporting bearings, a plurality of hollow metersupporting bearings arranged above said trough, liners arranged withinsaid hollow bearings and at one end projecting externally of said bear*-ngs and forming supports for one end of the meters, revoluble threaded'cylinders ar'- ranged within said liners, means for rotating saidcylinders, means for preventing longitudinal movement of said cylinders,threaded sleeves within the lcylinders and adapted to movelongitudinally when the cylinders are rotated for securing the meters inposition, and means formed on the sleeves for supporting the oppositeends of the' meters.y

10. In combination, with a machine for testing al group of alinedmeters, a` Wastewater catch trough forming a means for mounting themeter supporting bearings, a plurality of 'hollow meter supportingbearings arranged above said trough, liners rigidly secured within saidhollow bearings and one end ofthe liners projecting externally of said.bearings and forming supports for one end of the meters, revolublethreaded cylinders arranged within said liners, means for rotating saidcylinders, means vfor preventing longitudinal travel of said cylinders,threaded sleeves within said cylinders and adapted to movelongitudinally when the cylinders are rotated, means formed on thesleeves for supporting the opposite ends of the meters, a perforatedmeans having transverse adjustment through the stream of water forreducing and increasing the volumes of 'water through the meters underthe same head.

1l. combination, with amachine for testing group'of alined metersarranged serieta/m, means for removably securing each meter in the groupin operative position, means for securing each meter independ ently ofthe others, means for conducting the water to the meters, an outletpassageway for the water, means for temporarily closing said outletpassageway before initially starting the meter test, and means forindependently establishing a starting point for the reading of eachmeter.,

12. ln combination, in a machine for test- In Witness whereof, I, havehereunto set ing a plurality of meters arranged serz'az'm, my hand andseal at Wabash, lndiana, this means for removably supporting each meter6 day of August, A. D. one thousand nine independently in operativeposition, means hundred and fourteen.

for securing each meter independently in operative position, a singlemeans for deliv EDWIN H. FORD. [1.. s.] ering Water to all the metersse'ratz'm, a single means for carrying the Water away Witnesses: fromthe meters, and a by-pass connecting R. B. VICE, l the outlet of onemeter with the o'tlet pipe. R W- KLARE-

